The Farang Effect

Tourists wanted, Expats go home?

14th February 2007

Contrary to what many hear and believe, Thailand wasn't discovered by hoards of lonely american soldiers on the first plane from Saigon. Since the first Dutch explorers and traders landed on Siam's (old name for Thailand) shores over four hundred years ago the Thai people have been seeing the white skinned farang come and go. Its a land that has enthralled and enchanted, puzzled and perplexed, shocked and outraged many who visited and here. The collective term for a foreigner of European descent is 'farang.' Which, is thought to come from the word 'farangset' (meaning foreign frenchman). Sometimes pronounced 'falang' it is often remarked (by some thais and westerners) that it can be indirectly racist. It could also be just a handy way of categorising foreign visitors. From my colleagues and my own experiences in the country so far we can see justification to some of the above.

The discovery of Thailand by the backpacking crowd in the late 70s to the late 90s saw a miniscule growth in the tourist scene. This was belied by the fantastic experiences and freshness encountered. Almost all villages were astonished to see a white faced foreigner and even the most jaded traveler expressed respect for the thai way and hospitality. However in the aftermath of the 1997 stock market crash there were some thais who lay the blame at the foreign investors active in Thailand. Indeed many repeat visitors and expats alike have noticed a marked difference in thai attitudes and mentality since those fateful weeks and months.

The year 1999 perhaps marked the high water mark of many things good, and the start of other things undesirable. The sudden surge in power by the TRT (Thai Rak Thai) party saw the governments nationalistic mentality begin to make an impression. Fostering the belief that the Thai people are more important than all others and rejected other views. Certainly the TV and media has played a part. An independent review of the worlds media freedom has consistently stated that Thailand's is ranked poorly and remains at oppressive levels.

The changing face of Thailand as a whole that has seen an undeniable 'materialistic' outlook. The daily diet of TV soap operas that feature rich hi-so families and friends while showing few 'ordinary' thai people is a telling sign and could be setting a trend that ordinary thai folk yearn for. Everywhere mobile phones are in action providing an unwelcome reminded of the westernised factor. How does all this tie in with farang you may ask? Well an unfortunate trait that is wholly evident in many thai folk is the rationale that all white foreigners are wealthy. Added that the conning of the rich but foolish is condoned by many and you can have a narrow minded mentality of greed and con-artistry that is ever present.

If you are a tourist 'two weeker' with a sack of cash to spend the local reception and attitude can change with it, compared to say, a residing farang expat. This can be both a good thing and a bad thing. Koh Samui, Koh Phuket and even some of the smaller ones are now practically dominated by the relentless hordes of samsonite toting tourists. Certainly it was clearly noticed that by 2001 onwards the changing face of Thailand's tourism and thai attitudes in general was 'on the turn.' This was / is clearly seen at the big tourist islands, here budget accommodation is nearly impossible to find, bad news for the backpacker who is more used to roughing it. The flip side of the coin is that the price of living goes up, but living becomes more westernised, amenities and luxury goods are easily available.

As more and more cash in on chasing the tourist dollar it seems the expat is only wanted if he has the big coin to go with it.

The recent immigration changes have seen many repeat visitors and residents shocked. What was once a jovial formality of sending passports through the mail to be stamped changed to a visa run in the late 1990s. Now the visa run is almost a thing of the past now the 90 day rule has come into effect as many farang move on to pastures anew.

The wise expat now has to consider his options carefully as Thailand enters a new age. An age that has the weighted balance in favour of the two weeker tourist, it may drop to favour this more or it may change to the 'good old days' of the perpetual wanderer. Let's hope it's the latter!

A Tale of Two Airports

31st January 2007

Once upon a time many decades ago Don Muang Airport was constructed just north of Bangkok. For many faithful years it served the country of Thailand well as arguably the central hub of south east Asia's airports. However running parallel to this was the concept of using another site east of Bangkok for a second airport, the plan was half heartedly discussed to begin with and having been put on the back burner Don Muang International continued as the primary international airport for Thailand. Then in the late 1990s the newly elected Thai Rak Thai government party stormed to power, one of their pet projects was the new airport. Naming it Suvarnabhuri International (a name many westerners struggle to remember let alone say!) the green light was officially given to begin building the new airport.

One rumour is that the Thai Airforce controls Don Muang Airport (adjacent to the Airforce base) and held plenty of clout with those in power. Since their power and influence has waned and the Army's grown the plan for building Suvarnabhuri took fruit, circumventing any upgrades on the Airforces 'Turf'.

Now some justification could be granted at this point. Don Muang (DM) Airport, while it still oozes charm in a 1970s kind of way was fast reaching capacity as increased passenger numbers and airline traffic rose. Also compared to other countries in south east Asia, DM was far from cutting edge, it could only boast of two runways and passenger processing was straining under increased numbers. The new airport would far surpass all of this and more with 'state of the art' design features, bomb-detectors, a world record breaking control tower and an eventual rail / high speed link into central Bangkok. and in short the decision was made that no upgrade or expansion would take place to the existing airport. This too is, in comparison of DM, is bittersweet for the Skytrains foundation pillars still line the route north out of Bangkok towards DM.

By the 2003 construction was in full swing but again and again the projected deadline was extended until mid-2006 was set as the completion date. Despite months of speculation in the press that DM was to remain open it was then announced that Don Muang Airport was to close when the new one opened and later it was announced that DM airport should be converted to a novelty shopping mall. This was a move that shocked some, including many westerners. Normally it is a valuable asset having a secondary airport as this can be used for local domestic flights while the primary airport operates for international flights. There it could be argued that there is some wisdom in keeping all their eggs in one basket however, as domestic / international transfers and vice versa all under one location means no traveling between airports. (DM and SV are over 15 miles apart).

In mid-2006 the new airport opened amid much fanfare in the Thai press and celebration from the TRT government. The response from actual users of the airport was a different story. The interior style of the airport is some kind of a cross between techno-industrial and a vast warehouse. The size effect is impressive as the ceiling and support frames stretch off into the distance. It has the first impression of an unfinished building, the bare concrete support frames are undressed nor rendered. The check-in areas are small when compared with the projected processing capacity on paper; the actual number isn't available but as a comparison they measure the same as Don Muang (which is considered outdated!). Another major criticism is the distinct lack of toilets. Passengers arriving off an international flight will find there are less than ten toilets for four hundred or so people. At the gate boarding zones for departing passengers there are non-whatsoever. Most of the seats are considered to be the most uncomfortable in living memory as the solid steel metal design is without any padding, sitting on the floor is considered more comfortable!

Like a nuclear chain reaction more and more faults began to 'appear', cracks were discovered (and continue to be found), many docking modules which connect to the airliners have been found with structural faults, some seriously. That most of these were discovered after the bloodless coup which toppled Thaksin and the TRT party has raised serious questions about the airport. The key driving force behind nearly the entire project was the TRT party, namely Thaksin Shinawata. At the time of writing the most recent revelation is that Don Muang is now going to be re-opened to take over the domestic flights schedule out of Suvarnabhuri and that more structural blunders have been discovered.

Chiefly that the airport is on swampland and piles weren't used to build up the foundations prior to concreting. Independent investigators are continuing there investigations, only time will tell the future of this potential 'White Elephant' of airports..